Pod piper: good point. I didn’t think about that. I figured PB will freeze and won’t be too appealing to squirrels.
I am still catching with frozen peanut butter. When the snow gets deep that’s when they do not come out around here.
The trap was like me trying to set a bear trap! Its still in the orchard sitting there un set. 
didn’ have the strength!
I’m surprised because I didn’t find it that difficult to set. And I’m not a very strong person. I wonder if they made changes to the item.
Ordered! I have some tender hearted friends so may have to place it out of sight.
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maybe you could convince those friends to come and guard your apple trees. HeHe.
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I know what you mean. I’m keeping mine out of sight of my hubby. He’s completely against trapping animals.
In the meantime I noticed that my trap had visitors in the fenced in area. Somebody finished all the food. I added some more. In a day or two I’ll start setting it.
So yesterday I set my trap for the first time and today I noticed it was successful. It’s pouring rain today and I couldn’t gather courage to empty it and reset it. Can’t do it on a rainy day for the first time. Way too miserable. So I left it there, but worried that anymore visitors who see their friend in trouble would avoid the trap in the future. Are squirrels that smart?
no they’re not…in fact when I was catching them, I had one in the trap and another trying to get the bait…
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The 'coons showed up under my bird feeders a few nights ago. Knocked a couple of my tube feeders down and emptied them. They tipped over a trash can on the back patio too…looking for any kind of chow I suppose.
Last night I went 4 for 5 with the .22. I need some more practice I guess. Nothing like having a light that hits the bird feeding station and a quiet sliding window in the bedroom (and living in the sticks where a guy can shoot at night)
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So I’ve been using the tube trap little over a month now and so far caught 5 squirrels. Lately the bait disappears and the trap doesn’t go off. It’s either too sensitive which means it goes off as soon as I take my hand away or not sensitive enough so it doesn’t go off even when the animal walks on it to get to the bait. I’ve closed off one end so I know they walk on the plate to get to the bait. Any tips or suggestions to remedy this?
Is the U touching the trap body when it is set? After a certain number of firings the U will get so bent that it touches, and then the trap will not release well. This is a major design defect which I reported to them and got no reply. Anyway I suggest looking at that first. It could also be birds taking the bait, I have big problems with that. A third problem can be that the trigger pin / latch contact point can get a bit misaligned; I have had to use pliers to squeeze the latch (the piece of metal you put the trigger pin on) to make it stick a bit further up.
Both the tube and Kania traps require some work to keep in top shape, for me its a lot more on the tubes due to this bending U issue. I am more a squirrelinator fan now, so far I don’t see any flaws in their design other than the fox going after them. There is in fact a coyote in our neighborhood and I am wondering if that is not what went after my trap. Foxes are small, I don’t know how they would move a big trap 50 feet.
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I had the same problem with my squirrelnator a few years ago. I went out one morning to see if I had a catch and it was gone. At first I thought someone stole it but found it 40+ feet away in the woods the next day. We have coyotes and foxes here so it could have been either one. Scott – how are you getting rid of the squirrels you catch? You tossing them in a water basin? That’s the part I like about the tube traps. Easier to dispose of them.
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All the early squirrelinator catches have been giving a free trip to the county as an early-bird special. Once I get busy with spraying etc I will be using the dunk basin.
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No, there’s about half an inch space between the plate and the body of the trap. I don’t think anybody steals the bait.
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Mine does the same, I believe it is small mice getting the peanut butter. i will put my cameras up 2morrow after work.
Chipmunks are great stealers ( not your Steelers :)
They are very light weight and quicks. They have taken my baits many times.
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My son caught a fat (pregnant?) mouse in his tube trap last Sunday. First he has seen.
I haven’t seen a squirrel in the past week or so, and my squirrelinator has not caught anything. Thinking I’ll retire it until I see one.
I did catch my 3rd mole though.
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I got lucky today and nailed two squirrels with my .22 cal high powered pellet gun. I put each carcass in a haveahart trap under a pawpaw tree to attract pollinators. Double duty.
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I called forestry suppliers today to tell them that tube trap doesn’t fire off. It’s been over 30 days so I’m outta luck. But if I pay shipping and send it to them they’ll take a look and see what’s going on. They said this doesn’t happen often.
I’ll see how much shipping will cost. Not sure if it’s even worth sending back. But it’s a shame spending all that money on rust resistant trap and it does nothing. I have no clue how to deal with the squirrel issue.